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Captain K'Gard and Llyra Meet
2k5 2 - Sunday, July 28, 2013, 6:52 PM -------------------------------------- Auditorium The Great Auditorium is a gigantic domed room, huge even for Transformers. It is here that the great and good of Nebulos gather, it is here that the Council of Peers wisely debate and rule Nebulos, and it is here that any captured Transformer will be hauled to the Council to answer for accusations of war crimes against this peaceful world.. Contents: Llyra Obvious exits: South leads to Entrance Hall. K'Gard waits. Seated in the reception area of the grand Nebulos palace, he waits for Llyra, leader of the Nebulon people, to grand him his audience. Green skinned with light military armour in the official blue colour scheme that fits his alien four-armed body, he sits perfectly still. Only his eyes dart around left and right, looking at the royal decorations. K'Gard is a hard man, but everything here reeks of a pampered lifestyle. The cushion on his chair is too soft. The walls are too curved. The guards too focused on looking beautiful rather than looking effective. Still, he knows the hoops that he must endure in order to be diplomatic. He knows the importance of this potential ally. He knows that a soft cushion beneath his bottom is not too difficult of a penance for him to suffer through if it means success. The waiting, though. He could do without all the waiting. Llyra takes her sweet time coming out to greet this guy. Probably too busy crying in the other room about her broken family and how the only guy she's ever loved now turns into a giant robots head. You know, typical princess stuff. When she does come out, she dressed in a flattering, tight dress like most of her dresses. Always tight, always showing lots of cleavage but you should totally take her seriously. "I apologize for the wait," she says, reaching out to shake one of K'Gard's hands. Scorponok has arrived. K'Gard stands as Llyra makes her arrival, as per standard Nebulon rules of politeness. He is slightly taller than her, even without his hat, and shakes Llyra's hand with one of his rights. His grasp is firm and strong. "It is well understood," he says in a gravelly tone. "My belated condolences for the loss of your mate and father." His stern look and his dispassionate voice suggests that despite his politeness, he understands nothing of the kind. "Princess Llyra, my name is K'Gard, Captain on the Benign Intervention." Llyra will know of the massive warship that entered orbit a day ago. It broadcast friendly transmissions and allowed whatever security searches the Nebulon Guard required of it. "It is not easy," Captain K'Gard says, "To have personal concerns interfering with business." Again, he speaks as if he has never experienced this himself but understands it to be accurate. "I have come to you to discuss matters regarding the Cybertronians and the threat they pose to galactic security. Your declarations to the Galactic Assembly echo those of my associates." Perhaps making a big announcement about wanting to blow up another planet wasn't such a great idea. Now Llyra has to deal with diplomats and politics and ugh, this shouldn't even be her responsibility. This is all crap her father should be dealing with. Or would if he didn't abandon her to play war. "Right.." she says with a sigh, getting the impression that K'Gard has never had to deal with these kinds of issues ever in his life. "I'm glad to know I have some support. I was begining to think that the whole universe was against me." THOOM. THOOM. THOOM. "Lost her father? OH NO..." And then, none other than Scorponok looms over the two. "He's right here!" He taps the side of his helm with a claw. "Would either of you like to speak with him? He DOES like to talk, you know. Or maybe you'd like to talk to me, instead? I haven't been tried a diplomat in millenia! It ought to be interesting!" Scorponok grins cruelly. There are other Nebulans in the room, and to see Scorponok in here, especially after what he did to Nebulos last time, fills them with fear and more than a few Nebulans leave the room, some with their dignity, others at a full run. Llyra transforms into her hexagon mode! K'Gard nods, not breaking his facial expression even by a miniscule amount. "The whole universe is... divided on the subject. Despite this lack of unification, there are laws within the Code of Interplanetary Conflict that allow for certain unilateral options even without full consensus of the Council. It is options we are considering, and I have been asked to include Nebulos in these discussions. Even now a fleet is amassing near Velocitron. My Benign Intervention serves, but..." K'Gard trails off a full minute before Scorponok arrives, having heard his plodding footsteps. "It seems I am not your only guest." He taps his comlink, speaking into it openly. "Code 305. Standby." he says. Up aboard the warship, crewmen and crewwomen of K'Gard's race prepare the ship for combat and begin scanning for signs of the Hellbender. The alien turns to Scorponok, clasping both sets arms behind his back as he looks up at him. "Scorponok. Zarak." A greeting? A mere declaration? Llyra listens to what K'Gard has to say with a focused and serious expression.. until Scorponok comes in. How did he even get in here? She guesses the gaurds didn't really have a choice what with him being stupidly huge and powerful and all. And angry scowl crosses her face and she practically shoves K'Gard out of her way to get closer to the Decepticon and glare at him with the fury of a thousand scorned women. "/You/" she hisses, her tone dripping with hate. "I have no desire to speak with you. You are the reason why I made the decision I did!" She crosses her arms, still glaring up at him. "I want to see my father." Lord Zarak smiles down at Llyra, chuckling evilly. "Heheheh. Oh, in a moment, my pretty. But there's a reason why I came down here. You, of course, are already with my power, but not K'Gard." His gaze turns towards the alien. "I want you to understand something, creature. I am currently the leader of the Decepticons, but do not think I am any less cruel than Galvatron. Even if you prevail, alien, know that your men will suffer greatly, and that you will have catastrophic casualties at every step of the way. And if you LOSE... well, let's just say that the ones who died will be the lucky ones! Any prisoners we take will have a VERY bad day!" He peers back down at Llyra. "...still want to talk to daddy? Or would you rather run to your room and slam the door shut? Just like you did when Zarak threatened to send you to the nunnery...? Oh yes. All those memories. I have them too. The collapse of your relationship..." His optic vision narrows. "...such sweet suffering." Scorponok rises up into his robot mode, with Zarak forming the head! Scorponok smiles down at Llyra, chuckling evilly. "Heheheh. Oh, in a moment, my pretty. But there's a reason why I came down here. You, of course, are already with my power, but not K'Gard." His gaze turns towards the alien. "I want you to understand something, creature. I am currently the leader of the Decepticons, but do not think I am any less cruel than Galvatron. Even if you prevail, alien, know that your men will suffer greatly, and that you will have catastrophic casualties at every step of the way. And if you LOSE... well, let's just say that the ones who died will be the lucky ones! Any prisoners we take will have a VERY bad day!" He peers back down at Llyra. "...still want to talk to daddy? Or would you rather run to your room and slam the door shut? Just like you did when Zarak threatened to send you to the nunnery...? Oh yes. All those memories. I have them too. The collapse of your relationship..." His optic vision narrows. "...such sweet suffering." K'Gard studies Scorponok as one warrior to another. Though the Transformer is many times his own size and just as imposing, K'Gard searches for weaknesses physical, mental, and psychological. Scorponok is clearly a bully, and an egotistical one at that. Zarak has been stated to be more complex and dangerous a foe. Though it is nigh impossible to notice, his mouth grows a bit thinner at Llyra's words to him. It is as he feared. She cares more about her personal vendetta than truly pacifying Cybertron. Not for the first time, he wonders if coming here was a mistake. Is Llyra reliable? She is so frail and weak in all the above categories. This is a question he and Silas have argued about in the past, but ultimately the human won out. They need all the allies they can get. K'Gard has pledged to see this through, and he is nothing if not a man of his word. He listens to Scorponok, remaining perfectly still. "My own casualty estimates agree with yours," he says simply. War with Cybertron is not something to be taken lightly. This is another point he has tried repeatedly to impress upon Silas, but this was yet another argument he lost. The human is persuasive. "Like the Princess, I too would like to speak with Lord Zarak." He turns his head towards Llyra to gauge her reaction. Scorponok's taunts will make for a good test of her resolve. Woooowww. If Llyra wasn't pissed off at Scorponok before, she sure as hell is now. Everything inside of her is saying to lose her shit and start yelling at Scorponok but she knows that it wont make any difference. She bites her lip and takes in a sharp breath of air before exhaling slowly and giving him her response. "For your information, I was just a kid back then. You can't hold that against me, all kids makes stupid mistakes and act irrationally. Things are different now, I'm older. Wiser." She steps closer to Scorponok, doing her best to appear unafraid of the dangerous Decepticon. "Bring me my father. Now!" Scorponok grins at K'Gard. "Excellent. Then you realize you're wading into a bloodbath and doing it anyway. Good to know my enemies are fools, but you already established yourselves as such when you failed to distinguish between Autobot and Decepticon." And then Llyra yells at him, and Scorponok rears back his head and laughs. "Hahaha, ah, you're small, but fierce! I like that. Perhaps one day you could make a fine component for a Decepticon yourself! But very well. I give you... Lord Zarak." And finally Lord Zarak detaches himself from Scorponok's shoulders, transforming into Nebulan mode and landing before Llyra and K'Gard. He says nothing, just staring at them. Eventually he removes his helmet, and his facial expression is one of stone. Zarak detaches himself from Scorponok! "Most of my associates recognize the difference between Autobot and Decepticon," K'Gard says, "But it is the escalation of the war that concerns them, and for that all sides are guilty. Interstellar law is clear on this fact." K'Gard says nothing of Llyra's reply, but inwardly he finds it acceptable. It is a dangerous game being sent here to work with her, and he hopes that she is able to maintain both her strength and control for the duration of their soon-to-be alliance. When Scorponok takes off Zarak and lets him transform, K'Gard meets the Nebulon's gaze. What sort of man are you? he wonders. "Your binary bonded partner is not required at these discussions, Lord Zarak." Considering the fact she and Zarak share the same blood, Llyra probably would make a pretty good Headmaster. Probably not a Decepticon's though because despite her big talk about blowing up planets and causing war, she's really not that kind of bloodthirsty person. Her demeanor softens when her father detaches from Scorponok and transforms into the humanoid she's more familiar with. All she wants to do is run up and hug him and maybe, just maybe, for a few seconds she could feel like she was part of a family again. But Zarak's expression makes her hesitate and she slowly approaches him, hands clenched tightly. "Father.." Lord Zarak shakes his head. "No. I brought him here for a reason... K'Gard, was it? I wanted you to see him, in person. See what you are up against. And more importantly, to get a grasp of the depths of his cruelty. He is not bluffing when he says he will make your forces suffer." And he finally meets his daughter's gaze. "And your forces as well, daughter. How many men are you willing to sacrifice, thrown against Scorponok in the hopes of defeating him? A hundred? A thousand? A hundred thousand? And the moment you falter, show even the slightest weakness... that is when he will strike the hardest. And understand something else--Scorponok does not simply in terms of military strategy. He thinks also of hurting his enemies, emotionally, as much as he can. He will finish off ships that have been disabled simply so their fellows can watch them die. He will fire upon escape pods, simply to establish there is no escape. And while your forces are away, he may even be plotting raids on the homeworlds of his enemies, to burn them while they are defenseless, and ensure that even if Scorponok's foes win, they will have nothing to return to." Llyra can keep her emotions under control when she's talking to Scorponok but her father is a completely different story. She throws her arms up in desperation. "What am I supposed to do? Sit back and watch while you lead an army of destruction? Sit around with my thumbs up my ass, hoping that Nebulos wont be next?" She gets in her father's face, scowling and jabbing him in the chest with her finger as she continues. "You claim you can control Scorponok but how long do you think he'll let you do so? Do you honestly think he wont turn his violence back onto our planet? Father, I love you, I really do. I want us to be a family again, I want us to be able to pretend that the Transformers never came into our lives but.. you give me no choice but to do something, ANYTHING, to keep our homeworld safe." "I recognize a bluff when I see it," K'Gard says firmly, "And I know the power of Scorponok. The butchering he performed at Cellias IV is mandatory learning at the Institute. It not only teaches of his brutality, but of the danger your people pose." He lifts his chin slightly, "And it weeds out those applicants without the stomach to face the greatest danger to us all." When Zarak speaks to Llyra, K'Gard wishes that Silas were here. He'd have the smooth words needed to sway Llyra and lock her to their cause. Luckily Llyra finds the words that he could not. "Your daughter is stronger and wiser than you realize, Lord Zarak." If it were anyone else that comment might sound like he's sucking up, but one might get the impression that is not his style. Meanwhile, high in orbit over the planet, the Benign Intervention rounds one of the moons of Nebulos. There, its sensors lock onto the Decepticon warship Hellbender. The Benign Intervention bears down on it, weapons bristling. Lord Zarak was, fortunately, wearing power armor when he got jabbed, but it hurts him emotionally all the same. The stony facade cracks--a little. "My daughter, there's nothing you CAN do! The Decepticons are too powerful, and the only way to stop them is for me to direct them from within! I told you, I can keep Nebulos! Scorponok cannot oppose me on that, he needs me! If he were to destroy me, he would eventually go mad and lose all control over his motive systems! Don't you see? In order for him to continue existing, he MUST work with me, he has no choice! And I've kept him under control this long, I'll do it as long as I have to!" He glares at K'Gard. "Yes, she is, but she is still wrong. And so are you, Captain. You should have realized the costs of what you proposed to do are too great. And since you will not listen, what happened at Cellias IV will happen around the galaxy!" While Scorponok seems to be standing idle, he is in fact radioing instructions back to the Hellbender. The ship had detected the Benign Intervention, and Scorponok's orders to the crew are to orbit around the planet and build up velocity. A retreat? That seems unlike Scorponok. Llyra sniffs and crosses her arms. "Hmpth, fine. I'm not going to stand here and argue with you about the old crap over and over again when it's painfully obvious that you have absolutely no intention of changing your mind." She looks into her father's eyes with a sour expression, like she's both disappointed and offended by him. "I just hope you're prepared to kill me when the time comes because I also have no intention of changing my mind." She is his daughter afterall! <'Decepticon'> Former Senator Americon says, "Oh, damn, is Gycony gonna kill all the mercs in the galaxy? I thought he was a total wuss!" K'Gard's eyes narrow at Zarak's claims. Is he lying? How much control has he over Scorponok? For so strong a man, it is a glaring weakness. "Celias IV will happen across the galaxy regardless of what I or my associates do. But action will prevent more deaths than required. I believe you have your answer, Lord Zarak. Unless there is anything else you require, I assume you are done here?" In his ear piece he hears news from the Benign Intervention. Retreat? Impossible. Not what the butcher of Celias IV. His crew have been drilled hard in tactics such as these, and the capital ship does not recklessly speed up to catch the Hellbender. Instead it cautiously and carefully preps itself, launching waves of fighters that begin circling itself. Its energy weapons are powered up, its missile tubes primed, and its shields are at maximum. First blood might be far sooner than he or Silas expected. Lord Zarak sighs, shaking his head. "My daughter, are you doing this to punish me? Because this isn't just about you, it's about Nebulos and everyone living on it! These... fools in the Galactic Assembly, they might actually be a threat if they weren't completely disorganized and unaware of what will happen to them! The Decepticons... they are too powerful! And the fact that the Autobots will be forced to fight alongside them will doom their military intervention to failure!" He rubs his face, looking at her pleadingly. "Llyra, please! You can't put me in that kind of position! I... you're all I have left!" With a great heaving sigh, he seems to give up on her. "Yes, I am done, here, K'Gard. I do not expect to see you alive again, K'Gard. Or at least, I hope I do not, for your sake." And with that, he transforms back into Scorponok's head, and the towering Decepticon leers down at them again. "Very unwise, opposing me! Regardless, you shall make excellent first examples to the rest of the galaxy as to what happens to those who oppose Scorponok! But at least your planet will be spared, Llyra--K'Gard's world will not be so lucky!" And on that note, Scorponok turns around and begins to stomp out of the Auditorium, where he will eventually exit outside, and fly up to where a shuttle can safely scoop him up. As for the Hellbender, it appears to be maintaining orbit around the moon, exactly on the other side from the Benign Intervention. Probably wise not to pursue too closely! Scorponok rises up into his robot mode, with Zarak forming the head! K'Gard watches Zarak transform back into Scorponok's head and the two step away with cold, stony silence. Then he turns to Llyra. "I believe we have an invasion to plan." ROLL: Shockwave rolled a 28 "Indeed we do," Llyra says flatly, trying not to shed womanly tears of emotion and such. Combat: Llyra compares her Intelligence to 65: Success! BB Post in Progress Group: Reports Title: The Skies Above Nebulos ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Breaking news! A shooting war was barely averted in orbit around Nebulos between the Decepticon warship Hellbender and the Galactic Assembly flagship The Benign Intervention. The tense standoff behind Nebulos's third moon with both starships primed for battle was ended when the Hellbender retreated, making the jump to FTL. The Benign Intervention followed several hours later. Military analysts are debating who would have won if hostilities had broken out. What prompted the stare-down is unclear at this time, and there's been no comment from the Nebulos government as of yet.